Building structure or silo.



H. HULEN & C. F. BROWN.

BUILDING STRUCTURE 0R SILO.

APFLlCATlON FILED DEC. 7, 1914.

Patented Jan. 18, 1916.

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v I/M A TTORNEY Wad/$7.4M,

Tm: COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH co.. WASHINGTON, n. c.

STATES HARRIS 'I-IULEN, or eirir, iiiris'sourti, Lani) enemas F. BROWN,or scorn RIDGE, Kansas.

BUILDING STRUCTURE OR SILO.

Sp fidiiication of Iie'tters Patent.

racemes Jan. is, rare.

Application filed December 7, 1914. steam. 875,969.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, HARRIS HULEN and CHARLES F. BROWN, citizens of theUnited States of America, and residents, respectively, of Kansas City,in the county of Jackson and State of Missouri, and South Ridge, in thecounty of Johnson and State of Kansas, have invented certainnew anduseful Improvements in Building Structures or Silos; and we do herebydeclare that the following is a full, clear, and exact descrip tion ofthe invention, such as will enable others to make and use the same,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of thisspecification.

The invention relates to building structures, for the reception ofensilage, the objects of the inventionbeing, first, to combine in thestructure a series of interchangeable units, the units beingself-alined, when brought together; second, to overcome outward pressureupon the walls of'the struc ture; third, to enable tension to beinstantly applied to the securing bands of the structure; fourth, toprovide anti-friction bearings or Wear plates at the junction of theunits of. the structure.

The invention consists in the novel con struction and combinationofparts, such as will be first fully described and then specifk callypointed out in the claims. i

In the drawings: Figure 1 isa front view, in elevation, of the buildingstructure, embodying the invention, a portion only of the outer coveringbeing shown. Fig. 2. .is a horizontal sectional view, taken on the line:0, m, in Fig. 1. Fig. is an isometric view of broken portions ofadjacent structural units, parts of the standards in each unitbeingbroken away to show the alining strip. Fig. 4. is a horizontal,sectional view, taken through the door section and upon the line 3 1 inFig. 2. Fig. 5. is a detail :view of the anti-friction or warping platefor the securing bands. Fig. 6. is a detail view of a portion of thelower, halved end of a standard and a connecting bar. Fig. is a detailsectional view, enlarged of the lug for securing the ends of the wirecables showing the openings for the passage of the bolts and thesecuring and adjusting nuts.

Similar numerals of reference 1 indicate corresponding parts in all thefigures of the drawings. i

The building structure or side forthepur-= poses intended is preferablycircular in form, and in construction the entire frame is composed of aseries of independent, upright frames orstructural units 10. These unitsor frames 10 are made preferably of the same height and width, each unitor frame consisting of upright standards 12, 12,

responding length, and proportioned in length to the desired width ofthe frame or structural unit, and are curved in the arc ofa circle thedegree of curvature being that obtained from the central point withinthe circle formed by the assembled units in the structure, as shown in.Fig. 2. In the inner surfaces of the standards 12 are cut the notches15, which are of the same depth as the halved portion 13, at the lowerends of the standards. These notches 15 are made at short distances fromeach other in the standards, and in series from the lower to the upperends of said standards. The ends of the transverse connecting bars 14:are inserted within the notches 15', in the inner surfaces of thestandards, which notches are made of slightly less size than the saidends of the bars 14;, hence thebars are wedged within the. notches andheld firmly thereby. The ends of the lower bars 14 are then fittedwithin the halved lower ends of the stand ards 12, thereby forming thesingle frame or structural unit of the structure. The outer surfaces ofthese bars 1 1 are grooved at 16, in the direction of the standards, andthe groove continued across on the alined surfaces of said standards. Inthe outer surfaces of each standard 12 is a groove 17, extending thelength thereof, the lines of the sides of which groove are equi-distantfromthe forward and rear surfaces of the standard. I

18 indicates a slip tongue which holds the standards 12 in alinement,and also closes thenjoint between standards... in adjacent the portionsof the tongue are adapted to fit within the grooves of adjacentstandards of the separate frames.

One of the frames or structural units which is designed for use inobtaining entrance to and exit from thestructure, is provided withvertical bars 19, arranged approximately equi-distant from the standards.12, 12 of the frame or structural unit 10, so

as to afford door openings 20, in vertical series,the ends of each barbeing secured tothe respective upper and lower surfaces of the adjacentconnecting bars 14, the doors 21 being fitted within the openings 20,and hinged, as further described. 7

In the assemblage of the frames or structural units 1O,v to form thebuilding or silo, the frames 10are arranged in the direction of thelines of a circleyand the standards 12, of each frame, arrangedinposition so that the grooves 17, in each standard, are opposed to eachother. When in this posi tion, the requisite number of frames orstructural units are in position to make the circle complete, and awarping plate 22,.

having a curved depression 23, is placed across the joint between theadjacent standards 12, of each structural frame orunit, the depression23 being inserted within the groove 16, in the forward surfaces of thestandards, the plate being secured at their ends to the adjacentstandards 12, in each frame, by the nails or screws 22*.

Extending .circumferentially to the assembled frames or structural units10, within the grooves 16, are wire cables 25, the ends of said cablesbeing secured to the eyes 26, of screw bolts 27 these bolts beinginserted looselythrough the respective upper and lower openings28 and29, (see Fig. 7)

of the lugs 30. The outer end portions of the bolts are screw-threaded,and upon said ends of the, bolts, and bearingagainst the ends of saidlugs 30 are adjusting screw threaded nuts 31. These cables are employedin number equal to the number of transverse bars 14, and the nuts 31being tightened, the tension on the cables draws the frames 10 composingthe units firmly together, the cables are warped within the grooves ordepressions 23, in the plate 22, and hence, instead of passing over theangular surfaces ofthe standards are warped within the grooves of theplate and obtain 7 less friction when stress is applied-to the cables. IV

' The inner lining 32, of the structure or silo, is composed ofvertically positioned boards 33, which are narrow in width, and providedwith tongues 31,- upon one longitudinal surface, and grooves 35 upon theother longitudinal surface. These boards arepositioned on the innersurfaces of the respective frames 10, and the tongue on one boardmatched withthe groove of an adjacent board. The first board is securedin any suitable manner, at a point opposite the inner surface of thestandard 12, forming the side of the door opening 20, and the otherboards joined together in the direction of the inner circumference ofthe structure or silo, the lining boards, which are positioned in thedirection of the strip 19, forming the opposite side to-the door opening20, terminating opposite said strips 19, hence the door 21 closes pastthe line of thesurface of such board, which board is se cured frommovement by suitable nails or screws. The doors 21 are now hinged at 36to the inner surface of the board 33, forming a part of the lining ofthe structure and which are placed upon the outer surfaces of the framesin the same manner as described of the inner lining 32. An air chamberis thereby formed between the outer covering 38 and the inner lining 32.The building structure'thus completed, requires no other fastenings thanare herein stated, and hence the structure, when contraction may takeplace, is unrestricted, the contraction being readily taken up by thewire bands 25.

Owing to the nature of ensilage, the lining 32 is subject to outwardpressure, and this pressure is overcome by the'tension applied to theflexible cables or bands 25, through the adjusting and fastening devices30 and 31, access to which is readily obtained by 'means of thehorizontal rods 37, secured at their ends to the strips or jambs 19, onthe side of the door openings 20, and the standards 12, these rodsforming a ladder for ascending from the ground to the upper portion ofthe silo. The outer covering 38, to the structure before referred to,extends to the standards 12 at the respective right and left handportions of the independent frame having the door openings 20 and thehorizontal rods 37, as seen in Fig. 1.

The advantage whichwe obtain over the other forms of silos made fromassembled frames, is in depressedwire bands or cables, which encirclethe frames concentrically within continuous horizontal grooves in theouter surface of the entire frame in line with the connecting segmentbars of the independent frames, hence no one of the assembled frames canbe displaced from its vertical position with an adj acentframe, thecable or band bearing upon the upper and lower surfacesof the groovesthereby acting in a simpleand inexpensive manner as a brace to'eachframe, so that they are held rigidand the silo structuremoved if desiredfrom one location to another. Furthermore the bands or cables are withinthe grooves close in position to each of the vertical slip tongues 18,in the grooves 17, of the standards 12, and draw these parts togethereffectively so as to exclude moisture, which moisture has a tendency toswell theslip tongues and open the joints.

An outer covering may be placed upon the frame of the silo withoutinterference with the bands or cables which is not permissible in othersilos, and is new in the state of the art.

Hitherto it has not been possible to secure the standards of adjacentindependent frames with the ordinary external bands and permit thecovering or boards to be laid over the bands, hence our devised wearplates permit the accomplishment of this re sult, and Secure onestandard of one frame to an adjacent standard of an adjacent independent frame. The inner projection of the wear plate extends withinthe alined grooves of these adjacent standards and when in positionprevents sagging of these independent sections of the entire frame ofthe structure.

In order to make our securing bands or cables effective for the purposeabove men tioned, the securing lugs as seen are arranged in position atthe door openings, and in rows, one above another. The invention permitsthe independent frames to be assembled interchangeably, and may also bereversed if desired in position, and as a further advantage do notrequire to be bolted together.

The silo is ordinarily mounted upon a concrete base (not shown), andsecured thereto in any desired manner.

For rapid construction, the improved silo is of great value, the partsbeing transported in a knock-down condition and erected at the desiredplace. tages of the structural units are such that the capacity of thesilo may be increased circumferentially by the increasing of the.

length of the curved connecting bars 14, with such other modificationsemployed as are within the scope of the appended claims.

The advan- Having fully described my invention, what I now claim as newand desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a building structure of the character described, a circular framecomposed of a series of independent frames each composed of verticalstandards and transverse segment bars connecting one standard withanother, said structure having horizontal grooves in the'outer surfaceof said segment bars, and flexible cables or hands within said groovesand lying below the plane of the outer surface of the circular frame,and means for applying tension to the ends of said bands or cables.

2. In a building structure or .silo, a circular frame composed of aseries of independent upright frames, each independent frame havingparallel standards, and seg ment bars secured at their ends to therespective standards, said circular frame hav ing horizontal concentricgrooves extending below the alined surfaces of the standards, andwarping plates having depressed portions extending from one standard ofan independent frame to another standard of an adjacent frame incontiguity, and within said grooves.

8. In a. building structure or silo the combination with a circularframe composed of a series of independent upright frames, eachindependent frame having parallel standards, and segment bars secured attheir ends to the respective standards, said standards having verticalgrooves in their opposing surfaces and a slip tongue within saidgrooves, said circular frame having concentric grooves in the outersurface of the frame, and flexible cables within said grooves lyingbelow the plane of the outer surface of the frame and adjacent the saidslip tongues, and adjustable connecting devices connected with the endportions of said flexible cables.

HARRIS HULEN. CHARLES F. BROWN.

WVitnesses GEO. A. ANDERSON, ANNIE L. GREER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents.

Washington, D. C.

